Lesson seeds are ideas that can be used to build a lesson aligned to the CCSS. Lesson seeds are not meant to be all-inclusive, nor are they substitutes for instruction. When developing lessons from these seeds,
teachers must consider the needs of all learners. It is also important to build checkpoints into the lessons where appropriate formative assessment will inform a teachers instructional pacing and delivery.

STUDENT OUTCOMES/SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITIES

Instruct students to identify and compose a list of only those themes explored by the author in The Miracle Worker.

Next to each theme identified, students should write the names of characters that exemplify the theme.

Explain to the class that now that they have finished reading The Miracle Worker and analyzing the characters, they will consider some of the universal and specific themes present in the play. Before focusing on the play, they will first review the process of identifying a theme in a short story.

Review the definition of theme with the class. (The thoughts about life or human nature that the writer conveys to the reader.)

Distribute a more comprehensive, teacher-developed list of possible theme topics explored by writers. Explain to the students that this list represents a partial listing of one-word universal theme topics.

Have students review the list and identify possible theme topics that connect to the poem "Helen Keller" by Langston Hughes. Prompt students to share their rationale for theme topics they select.

Have students create a chart to identify theme topics and use supporting details from across the text to trace its development. Using these details should enable students to generate a theme statement. For example:

Theme Topic

Supporting Details from ACROSS the text

Theme Statement

Using the Langston Hughes poem as an example, model completing the chart.

Explain to students that they will apply this same process to the events in The Miracle Worker.

Have students work in pairs and/or groups to select 3 - 5 appropriate theme topics for The Miracle Worker and complete the chart using the theme topics selected.

Lead a whole class discussion reflecting on students' ideas.

Explain to the students that good literature can have lifelong impact, especially when readers can make strong personal connections with one of the universal themes.

Have students complete a journal entry or quickwrite identifying one of the themes explored that is most personally relevant and explaining how that theme relates to their own life experiences. Require students to include text-based connections to support their ideas.

CCSS STANDARDS ALIGNMENT

Reading: Literature

RL.7.1 Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

RL.7.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.

RL.7.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 6–8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

Writing

W.7.10 Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

Speaking & Listening

SL.7.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.